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From the frontline - Michele Parry
Michele Parry, business improvement officer at Halton Housing Trust, tells Inside Housing about why digital connectivity is so important and how she’d like to beat the commuter traffic
What does your job involve?
I work in the digital first team, helping to get Halton Housing Trust customers online. This means that they can get in contact with us digitally, but can also enjoy the benefits that access to the internet brings. Our aim is to have 90% of our customers accessing services online by 2018.
Why is digital connectivity important to your residents?
Being digitally connected is now the way of the world, and we don’t want our customers to be left behind. There are some big social benefits, too: making them feel more connected and part of society.
How did you get into housing?
There were a number of housing elements to my degree and masters which I really enjoyed and wanted to explore further. I started five years ago as a neighbourhood regeneration assistant and have worked my way from there.
What would you change about the sector if you could?
The perception. There are so many TV series and documentaries that paint social housing in a poor light. The vast majority of our customers are hard-working people with full-time jobs who
just want to provide for their families.
What’s the best thing about your job?
Supporting our customers, helping them become confident using the internet, and opening up a new world to them. So many of them believe using the internet is something they could never do and it’s fantastic to show them that they can.
And the most challenging?
We often take getting online for granted but for some, the prospect of this is incredibly daunting. It’s a challenge to make customers believe that they are capable of using the internet.
What’s the first thing you’d do if you became prime minister?
I would look at tackling the housing crisis head-on and invest even more in affordable housing for those who need it most.
What would your superpower be and why?
At the moment I’d love to be able to fly. They’ve been doing work on the Runcorn and Widnes Bridge for ages and even though we work flexibly, I still seem to spend too long sat in traffic!
